Shopping Guide
The new anime series Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold available to stream since April 11 on Bandai Visual, Daisuki, and other services is already gaining massive popularity. The show is available to stream worldwide, and it has been revealed that it amassed over 2 million views in 10 days. According to Toei Animation, the video surpassed 2 million views on April 20. Furthermore, more people abroad than in Japan have viewed it, giving a sense of Saint Seiya’s worldwide popularity.
Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold was produced as the newest work in the Saint Seiya series, which will reach its 30th anniversary in 2016. The work is catching buzz for placing as the main characters the Gold Saints, which are among the most popular characters of the series. Also, the fact that it’s available to fans first through video streaming is gathering attention. It was also released simultaneously worldwide, giving a feel of the full-blown video streaming age of anime. It’s available in Japan via Bandai Channel, Hulu Japan, and others, and is available in 13 languages overseas via Daisuki, Crunchyroll, YouTube, iQiyi (China), Hulu (North America), and other large-scale video streaming sites. The video was able to reach so many views due to the large scale of the project and the full lineup of streaming networks.
Manga serialization for the Saint Seiya series began in 1986, and the TV anime began broadcasting at the same time. Since then, countless anime in the series have been produced. Up till now, the TV anime has been broadcast in over 80 countries. The series has many fans all over the world including in Asia, Europe, and Central and South America. In 2014, the series’ first fully CG film, Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary, was released theatrically in Central America, Europe, and Asia. Even now, the series is highly popular overseas.
In addition to streaming, the anime has also begun broadcasting on TV in French and other languages. The series aims for the development of figures, toys, and more in countries all over the world.
In recent years, Toei Animation has been assertively tackling overseas development. It seems one of the main works at the forefront of this moving forward will be Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold.
Source: animeanime
© Masami Kurumada / Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold Production Committee
